After the accident

The crowd's screams pierced Wang Xiaoliang's eardrums like countless tiny needles. An invisible hand clenched his heart, and his breathing stopped.

That figure in white sent terrible possibilities flashing through his mind.

A yellow electric scooter lay tipped on its side, takeout containers scattered across the ground.

And a girl lay facedown, motionless.

"Let me through! Please, let me through!"

He squeezed to the front and finally got a clear look at the girl's face.

It wasn't Wei Zijin.

As that thought flashed through his mind, Wang Xiaoliang's taut body instantly relaxed.

After the overwhelming relief came another, sharper sting.

A deep gash split the girl's forehead near her temple. Blood gushed from it, quickly forming a small puddle on the asphalt beneath her. Her face was deathly pale, her eyes tightly shut. She was unconscious.

The scene instantly overlapped with a long-buried image from his memory.

It had been just like this the day his third roommate jumped from the dormitory roof. The crowd, the cries of alarm, and the rapidly spreading pool of blood on the ground. Back then, like everyone around him, he could do nothing but stare in shock, his legs weak.

But this time was different.

"Oh my God, all that blood..."

"That delivery guy was going way too fast. How could he ride that fast on campus?"

"Quick, film it and post it on Douyin. It'll definitely go viral."

More people simply held up their phones, aiming their cameras at the girl on the ground and the blood around her.

Wang Xiaoliang glanced at those raised phones, and anger surged through him. Ignoring them, he crouched down and quickly pulled off his plain white T-shirt.

He folded the shirt into a thick square, carefully avoiding the wound on the girl's head as he gently lifted the back of her neck. Then he placed the shirt beneath the wound and pressed hard. He remembered reading in a first-aid guide that stopping the bleeding with pressure was the first priority for injuries like this.

Warm liquid quickly soaked through the cotton shirt, coating his fingers. The sticky sensation made his stomach churn, but he fought back the nausea without easing his pressure in the slightest.

With his other hand, he pulled out his phone. His fingers were still trembling slightly from his frantic sprint, but he managed to tap the three digits precisely: 120.

"Hello, is this the emergency medical service? There's been a traffic accident on East Lake Road at Jiangcheng University, in front of the library. A female student has a serious head injury. She's bleeding heavily and is unconscious!" Speaking as quickly as he could, he clearly gave the location and described her injuries.

"Are you sure you should do that? What if..." a well-meaning girl beside him cautioned quietly.

"I've already called an ambulance." Wang Xiaoliang said only that, without looking up.

His calm decisiveness seemed to influence the people around him.

Two more male students ran over. One helped maintain order, moving back the onlookers who had crowded too close, while the other went to check on the delivery rider.

The delivery rider sat slumped a few meters away, clutching his leg and trembling all over. He had no obvious injuries, but he looked as though his soul had been sucked out of him. He kept muttering, "It wasn't me, it wasn't me... she ran out in front of me..."

Soon, campus security guards and a teacher wearing glasses arrived. At the sight of the scene, the teacher's expression immediately turned grave. She first calmed the crowd, then walked over to Wang Xiaoliang and crouched beside him.

"Thank you. The ambulance will be here any moment. You've done very well."

Just then, the wail of a siren sounded in the distance. A white ambulance sped through the campus gates and stopped outside the crowd. Several medical staff in white coats rushed over with a stretcher.

Only when the professionals arrived did Wang Xiaoliang finally release his hands. His once-pristine white T-shirt was now a horrifying dark red, heavy with blood.

The medical staff swiftly took over, checking her injuries, stopping the bleeding, fitting a neck brace, and lifting her onto the stretcher in one seamless sequence. The teacher climbed into the ambulance with her. Before leaving, she made a point of turning back to Wang Xiaoliang. "What's your name? Which college are you in?"

"I..." Wang Xiaoliang had just started to answer when the ambulance doors slammed shut with a bang, and it sped away.

He stood there shirtless, someone else's blood smeared over his body and hands. The crowd gradually dispersed, leaving only a few security guards to deal with the scene. The sunlight felt hot against his skin, yet waves of cold kept washing over him.

He looked down at his disheveled state and decided to return to his dorm first.

His bare torso and the broad smears of blood on his skin made him the center of attention the entire way. The speculative, probing looks people cast at him left him deeply uncomfortable.

Back in his room, he went into the bathroom and washed the blood from his hands.

He took off his bloodstained trousers, changed into clean clothes, and headed to the cafeteria with his lunch container.

The cafeteria was as noisy and crowded as ever, but he had little appetite. After forcing down a few mouthfuls of food, he returned to his room. He lay on his bed but couldn't fall asleep. The morning's fluttering heart and the afternoon's terror tangled together, denying his mind even a moment of peace.

He finally sat up and decided to go to the library. Perhaps studying would calm him down.

Downstairs, he glanced at the bulletin board out of habit.

An A3 notice printed in an enormous font had been posted in the most prominent spot.

"[Urgent notice on strengthening campus safety management and prohibiting delivery vehicles from entering campus]"

The wording was stern, printed in black on white, and its central message was simple: effective immediately, to protect the safety of all students and staff and eliminate traffic hazards, delivery vehicles from all delivery platforms and off-campus food establishments were strictly prohibited from entering campus. Violators would face serious consequences.

It was signed by the university's security office and dated today.

Wang Xiaoliang stood before the notice, stunned for a moment.

Since when had they become this efficient?

The accident had only happened at noon, and by the afternoon, notices were posted all over campus. It seemed the girl's injuries had indeed drawn serious attention from the university administration.

He continued toward the library, but his thoughts were stirring. Banning deliveries from campus meant...

Outside the library, the spot where three or four yellow and blue electric scooters usually stood was now completely empty. On the vending machine standing alone in the corner, a red "Sold out" indicator glowed beneath every product slot.

Wang Xiaoliang pushed open the library's heavy glass doors.

There were even more people inside than there had been that morning. The once reasonably spacious aisles were now crowded with students searching for seats. He looked around and noticed far fewer drink bottles on almost every table.

Usually, at this hour, the study room's tables were covered with bottles and cups of iced black tea, cola, milk tea, and coffee, an impressive sea of colors. Now there were only a scattered few.

Without the delivery riders providing "logistical support" on demand, the entire library seemed to have been plunged into a sudden "energy crisis."

An idea exploded in Wang Xiaoliang's mind like a flash of lightning.

The vague money-making plan he'd had that morning suddenly had a crystal-clear shape-and the perfect conditions to take root!

His heart began racing again. But this time, it wasn't because of a girl. It was because of an opportunity taking shape before him.

Instead of going any farther inside, he turned around and hurried out of the library.

His destination was clear: an unremarkable little storefront behind the campus park. In his freshman year, while saving up to buy Nike shoes, he had gone there with his roommates to buy instant noodles wholesale. It was a hidden gem tucked away in a narrow alley, with prices considerably lower than the supermarket's.

He jogged almost the entire way. The owner, a plump middle-aged man, was dozing in a chair.

"Sir!" Wang Xiaoliang called, panting.

The owner opened his eyes and gave him a lazy glance. "Buying something?"

"What are your wholesale prices for drinks?"

"How much do you want?" The owner showed a little interest.

"Red Bull, iced black tea, Pulse, and cola. I'll start with... one case of each." Wang Xiaoliang mentally counted the money he had.

The owner quoted the prices. Wang Xiaoliang quickly added them up in his head and frowned. The prize money from the university would just about cover it, but he had already overspent his living allowance. The wholesale cost of four cases was the absolute limit of his budget.

"Um... could I... borrow your tricycle?" he asked, a little embarrassed.

"Sure. Three hundred yuan deposit." The owner remained reclined, fanning himself.

"Wait!" Wang Xiaoliang grew anxious. "How about this? I'll leave my ID with you. I live in the campus dorms, so I can't just disappear! I'll bring it back within an hour!"

The owner looked him over again. Seeing the sincerity and urgency on his face, he could tell he wasn't joking. He was silent for a few seconds.

"Which university do you go to?"

"Jiangcheng University."

"All right." The owner nodded. "Give me your ID, and I'll write you a receipt. The tricycle's over there. Go get it yourself. Oh, add me on WeChat first."

"Thank you! Thank you so much!"

He struggled to pull out the little tricycle and loaded the four heavy cases of drinks onto it.

The trip from the wholesale shop to his dorm took only a little over ten minutes, but Wang Xiaoliang was drenched in sweat by the time he arrived. The tricycle's chain creaked in protest, and his legs felt like lead. A slight uphill slope and a battered old tricycle were all it took.

Back in his room, he stacked the four cases neatly.

When he had finished, he dropped into his chair and took a long drink of water.

He emptied his backpack, then carefully took four each of the Red Bull, iced black tea, Pulse, and cola from the cases and packed them neatly inside. This was the roomy backpack he used for luggage whenever he went home, but the sixteen drinks only just fit, and they made it exceptionally heavy.

Then he cut a business-card-sized piece from the cardboard drink packaging.

He picked up a black gel pen and wrote several lines on the card.

"Need a drink?"

"Cola: 2.5 yuan"

"Red Bull: 4.5 yuan"

"Iced black tea: 2.5 yuan"

"Pulse: 5 yuan"

These prices were lower than those at the campus supermarket, and much lower than the vending machine outside the library, which charged four yuan for cola, five for iced black tea, and as much as seven for Red Bull and Pulse.

Everything was ready. Wang Xiaoliang looked at the bulging backpack and the little card bearing his price list, then let out a long breath.

He solemnly slipped the little cardboard card into the backpack's outer pocket.

Selling that first bottle, showing the card to that first student, was going to be truly difficult.